Abe & Eddie

Quite blown away by this NetGalley review of Flowers from the Black Sea that appeared on Amazon today

So, after much fretting & sleepless nights, my next novel is finally complete and with the editor. Time to get on with other work. Meanwhile, 'Flowers from the Black Sea' is still attracting readers

@Vroniholzmann As a sufferer myself I totally sympathise, and more fool me for not yet calling in at the camera doctor

It is World Community Arts Day ☀️ The terrible news is that my camera is broken and with this my heart is broken, too 💔 However, she is at the camera doctors who will hopefully be able to heal her acute shutter failure. I am so lookin forward to have her back 🥲

I am writing a book on Nigel Farage for @headlinepg. No holds will be barred. Nigel has said of me that I caused him “more misery than any other in my 25 years in politics”. Hello Nigel. Out in September.

My consultant of choice: Dr Alice, specialist in wonders

One more reason, if any were needed, to keep reading and writing theguardian.com/society/2026/f…

In the UK and elsewhere, bibliotherapy has been soaring in popularity as a way to improve wellbeing. While the benefits of self-help literature are well documented, advocates of fiction-based or "creative bibliotherapy" claim similar advantages. bbc.com/future/article…

Dreaming of writing your novel this year? Rip up all the rules! theguardian.com/books/ng-inter…

In Orban’s Hungary, so beloved by Trump, “the state has taken control of one of the country’s largest publishers, homophobic legislation has reshaped bookshops and writers complain of shrinking opportunities.” theguardian.com/world/2026/jan…

@FlissZak As I understand it, impressions reflect how many times your post is displayed on users' screens, while views tell you the number of times the post was clicked on

Someone savvy in #TwitterWorld / #xWorld help me out? VIEWS on around 20 posts a day (inc replies/quotes) show between 5 and 20 on each post. I make that an average of around 2k VIEWS per week. Yet X reckons I have 33.7k IMPRESSIONS a week. WTF? #help #Tips #hacks #TwitterHelp

According to the top 10 "Banished Words List" we can at last stop "reaching out" and "incentivizing" with a clear conscious. Next up "going forward"? abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/v…

The irrational exuberance of AI boosters & their cynical coupling with Trump is a familiar story of human greed & myopia, not a new stage in evolution. The product is truly phenomenal but flawed in ways that encode the deformed character of its progenitors theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

🎄Looking for a Christmas miracle, folks! 🎄 3k followers for Christmas would be a lovely Xmas prezzie. Bots/marketeers welcome. But don't expect me reply to DMs! 😂 I'll risk most, & follow back 🎅 #WritingCommunity #poetrycommunity #readingcommunity #follow #Twitter #followers

"We took a piece of guerrilla journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed 20m times” This is worth a read for the hilarious account of the police response theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2…

'It's a moment of death and rebirth': The ancient monuments saluting the winter solstice bbc.com/culture/articl…

@banbloodsports @RBoydBarrett I recall encountering a group of fox hunters on their mounts in the English countryside one day on my way home from work. They were not a pleasant bunch

"I find it hard to understand how anybody could gain entertainment from [fox hunting]...That is not a sport. That is just an exercise in cruelty and barbarism" - Richard Boyd Barrett TD @RBoydBarrett (People Before Profit - Solidarity) youtube.com/watch?v=T6OXnd… #BanFoxHunting 💚🦊

Joan Didion and Kurt Vonnegut Had Something to Say. We Have It on Tape. Rare recordings of E.E. Cummings, Mary Oliver and more offer a tour through literary history led by authors in their own words - and voices. Take a listen. nytimes.com/2025/12/19/boo…

Many of Istanbul's visitors are unaware that the city is home to half-a-millennium-old stone-carved bird houses that reflect the Ottomans' reverence for the animals. bbc.com/travel/article…

@FlissZak So true

And I've always said George Orwell only got the 1984 date wrong. I reckon we're probably about 20 years away from that. The human race is heading towards another near total extinction. This ain't the first time we've done it and sadly, probably won't be the last.

The late JG Ballard's novel Kingdom Come is almost 20 years old, but anticipates today’s Britain with eerie precision. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

Share the books that bring you joy - and win a year's subscription to Hay Festival plus a set of The Pleasure List books to be announced on the eve of Hay Festival 2026. hayfestival.com/the-pleasure-l…